Monsters Inc.: Marxist Analysis
“Our city is counting on you to collect those children’s screams… Yes, it’s dangerous work, and that’s why I need you to be at your best.”
So says Mr. Waternoose in the opening scene of Monsters Inc. The line is innocuous; a boss giving motivation and confidence to his employees. But underneath this surface interpretation is a more chilling meaning, providing the groundwork for a pointed and surprisingly effective analogy of the energy industry today — as well as industrialization in general. Despite the corporate name, Monsters Inc. is a movie which provides children with a healthy amount of skepticism towards the businesses and figures of authority presented in the movie. Waternoose, the successful CEO, is revealed to be ruthless, dangerous, and corrupt; the Child Detection Agency (CDA), a stand-in for the police and other protective services, is portrayed as hapless and cruel in their interactions with Monsters Inc. employees. The movie shows the dangers of a capitalist ideology through the antagonistic character Randall, whose motivations are corrupted by his jealousy of the protagonist Sulley’s financial success. Sulley’s parental relationship with the human child Boo also conveys a subtextual message about how ambition and maintaining positions of power in an exploitative, capitalist world are fundamentally incompatible with genuine connection to other people. Even with this, however, the arc of the story still moves only within the bounds of a capitalist society, and frames ascent in socioeconomic class as the most viable solution to all of life’s woes. Monsters Inc. conveys the message that there is still hope in the capitalist ideology — that with the right people pushing the right ideas, it is possible for a non-exploitative relationship to exist between business owners and employees — even though exploitation is a concept that is endemic to capitalism itself.
Monsters Incorporated is an energy-mining plant at the center of Monstropolis. The factory is an immense building, complete with what looks like a city of billowing smoke stacks. The door vault, in which the company stores the portals used to mine energy from children’s screams, is half a mile long and taller than the Empire State Building. Monsters Inc. has been allowed to grow so large because of the Monster World’s reliance upon it, a fact that the company is not afraid to emphasize in its marketing.
“We’re part of your life. We power your car. We warm your home. We light your city,” the commercial narrates, “Everytime you turn something on, Monster’s Incorporated is there.”
There is a problem that the world of Monstropolis faces, however — children in the human world are becoming insensitive to the best efforts of monsters to scare them, and are screaming less and less. An energy shortage seems imminent. But not to fear, says Monsters Inc., “We know the challenge — the window of innocence is shrinking. Human kids are harder to scare. Of course, M.I. is prepared for the future with the top scarers, and the best refineries and research into new energy techniques.”
For the audience watching Monsters Inc. in the twenty-first century, an impending energy shortage is an unfortunate reality. Based on the striking similarities between Monsters Incorporated and fossil fuel industries, the creators behind the film must have been all too aware of this. Monsters Inc.’s commercial from the 2001 movie is eerily reminiscent of the gas company Shell’s extensive marketing campaigns. In one 2014 video, Shell introduces viewers to a senior commercial advisor, who says “I believe that Shell is one of the frontrunners in exploration of oil and gas… We will remain dependant on oil and gas resources.” “Quest Carbon Capture and Storage” explores the process of oil extraction in Canadian tar sands, claiming that their goal is to “meet the global energy demand while reducing our carbon footprint.” In fact, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has made a legal case against Shell’s Quest CCS, whose actions have resulted in the destruction of ecological systems, wildlife and fish habitat as well as a violation of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s treaty with Canada. Shell is not alone in claiming good intentions; BP released a commercial after the 2013 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in which they state that “safety is at the heart of everything [BP] does.” Despite Shell and BP’s efforts to convince their audience of the opposite, all use of non-renewable energy is harming our planet’s future. Extracting, transporting, and burning fossil fuels is extremely damaging to ecosystems and the planet as a whole, not to mention the waste produced by many methods of energy production. At the current rate of extraction, oil reserves will last humans less than 60 years. Fossil fuels are not sustainable. It seems darkly appropriate that in Pixar’s allegory for the fossil fuel industry, the unsustainable source of energy is children screaming. The industry will continue to frame fossil fuels as the only way forward; their concerns don’t lie with future generations, only monetary gain. But if companies persist in prioritizing non-renewable fuels, the energy crisis is more prescient than they would like their consumers to believe.
Henry J. Waternoose III, the CEO of Monsters Incorporated, has no compunctions about abandoning human screams as an energy source, dangerous as he purports the work to be for his employees. Though the human children are widely understood be toxic for monsters, and the amount of energy that can be gained from their screams is rapidly declining, Waternoose sees screams as the only way for his company to survive. His main strategy to promote more energy production is to pit his workers against each other in a competition to rise in the ranks, displayed on a large scoreboard which hangs over the ‘scare floor’.
Sullivan has been ‘top scarer’ for as long as he’s worked to mine screams. On his tail has always been Randall, an ambitious and combative monster with chameleon-like abilities. Sullivan’s success and amicable relationship with Waternoose is a source of extreme jealousy in Randall, which at the time of the movie has become a fully-fledged obsession. It is clear that the taxing demands of the workplace, and the unreasonable standards that the company sets for all its workers, has twisted Randall’s mindset. “I’m in the zone today, Sullivan,” Randall challenges before the work day begins, “Going to be doing some serious scaring. Putting up some big numbers.” All of Randall’s working relationships have taken an unhealthy turn because of this; he projects his frustrations and lack of control onto his assistant Fungus, constantly threatening and berating him. “If I don’t see a new door in five seconds,” Randall warns him after Sullivan narrowly beats his top score, “I will personally put you through the shredder!”
As a defense mechanism against these abusive work conditions, Fungus has a meek and nervous disposition around Randall. This is not the situation for some other assistants, however. Mike Wazowski works well with Sullivan, encouraging him and providing comic relief. This in itself could be motivated by Mike benefiting off of Sulley’s financial success. Nevertheless, assistants like Mike and Fungus are clearly of a lower status in the company’s eyes than scarers like Randall or Sullivan. They are regularly disparaged by scarers for not being horrifying enough to make the cut, and are mostly ignored by the likes of Waternoose. In addition, assistants like Sully must work directly with clerical workers, like Celia, Mike’s girlfriend, and Roz, a slug-like monster who is irritated at Mike’s incomplete paperwork. Unlike Mike and the other assistants, Celia and Roz’s characters appear rather two-dimensional, and their roles and emotions are mostly disregarded by the audience. Sulley and the other scarers, as opposed to the assistants, have a moderate amount of financial security because they are not easily replaceable. Sullivan is clearly favored by his boss Waternoose, who compliments him on “an impressive job” — that is, keeping Waternoose’s company afloat. Because he is so successful, work consumes the other areas of his life; Sulley doesn’t feel the drive to explore relationships outside of it. His friend Mike admonishes him on this: “You know there’s more to life than scaring.” Sullivan discovers just how right this is when he meets the human child Boo.
Boo is a child from the human world who finds herself in the monster world after hitching a ride on Sulley’s back. At first, Sulley and Mike are afraid of her, and it is at this point where their main priorities are made clear: “How could do this? This could destroy the company!” Sulley exclaims, while Mike shouts, “Who cares about the company! What about us?” The later discovery of her non-toxicity and unrelenting cuteness, however, allow them to bond with her. Sulley especially grows close to the child, likely because of his need for connection outside of his work. “I’m not going to scare you,” Sullivan assures her in Mike’s apartment, “I’m off duty!” The two give each other new names: Sulley becomes Kitty, and the child becomes Boo (the switching of traditional “monster equals scary” and “child equals cute” roles foreshadows the further switching of the status quo later in the movie). Mike and Sulley soon discover that Boo’s laughter, even more so than her crying, has a powerful effect on the monster world’s electricity. In fact, the human child’s laughter is ten times stronger than her screams. This new piece of information fits easily into the energy industry analogy — Boo’s laughter is the monster world’s solar power. Even as Mike and Sulley’s discovery holds the potential for new connections to be made between monsters and humans, the profit-minded Randall and Waternoose are developing ways to deepen the gap between them.
As Mike and Sulley soon come to find, Randall knew of Boo’s existence and plotted to use her to test his diabolical invention: the scream extractor. The “new energy techniques” that Monsters Inc. cheerily advertised earlier are simply more dangerous and damaging methods used to extract the same diminishing resource. This rhetoric should sound familiar — it’s the same tactic companies like Shell and BP are taking with oil with new processes like LNG and hydraulic fracking.
When strapping Boo into the scream extractor, Randall shows none of the fear that other monsters do around touching humans; Randall thus understands that the child in front of him is harmless, but shows no hesitation in torturing her for monetary gain. Randall has clearly been entirely corrupted by capitalist ideals of being recognized by his company and ascending in status. The monster has moved beyond the company’s regular tactics for increasing competition among employees: “You still think this is about that stupid scare record?” Randall scoffs, “I am about to revolutionize the Scaring industry. And when I do, even the great James P. Sullivan is gonna be working for me!” Escaping the grips of Randall and running through the factory, Mike, Boo, and Sulley are intercepted by the Child Detection Agency.
Monsters Inc. provides a fresh perspective on the police and other protective service authorities in children’s movies, showing how the Child Detection Agency (CDA, a stand in for the police force) is aligned with, not against, companies’ exploitation of their employees. Their entire conception, in fact — that children are dangerous to the touch — is in line with the propaganda that Waternoose spreads in order to promote the monster world’s reliance on his company. Throughout the movie, the CDA employs overly aggressive practices. After a child’s white sock is spotted on his back, CDA agents tackle the monster George Sanderson to the ground, publicly shaving him and placing a cone of shame around his head. After another incident with the CDA, he is shown leaning on a crutch. Mike’s girlfriend Celia is in a similar state after the CDA lock down the restaurant Harryhausen. The CDA are also portrayed to be somewhat clueless in their investigation, as they continually take down innocent and protesting Monsters Inc. employees instead of Mike or Sulley in their search for Boo, and are easily foiled by Mike throwing a sock at them.
As Mike and Sulley make their escape, Mike officially cuts his ties with the company, crying, “Goodbye Monsters Inc.! Goodbye Mr. Waternoose!” Even with the unspoken alliance between Waternoose and the CDA, though, Sulley stops Mike from leaving and insists on reporting Randall to Waternoose. Unlike Sulley, Mike has not benefited from the system under Waternoose, and no longer trusts it, but his loyalty to Sullivan prevails. Upon encountering Waternoose, Sulley is commanded to simulate scaring a child for a group of monster trainees — but doesn’t notice that Boo is present. After witnessing the work Sulley does, Boo turns fearful of him. Sulley attempts to repair their relationship and justify what he did, but is at a loss for words. Sullivan’s work in scaring children is incompatible with his relationship with Boo. By dedicating himself fully to his work and all the implications of it, including that human children are simply resources and not people worth connecting to, Sulley severs himself from any possible connection with Boo.
When Randall’s plot and Mike and Sulley’s knowledge of it is revealed to Waternoose, his reaction is not what Sullivan had expected. “This company can’t afford any more bad publicity,” he says, and promptly banishes them to the Himalayas. That doesn’t mean that Waternoose didn’t regret his actions. “Because of you, I had to banish my top scarer,” he tells Randall. He was involved in Randall’s plot the entire time, supporting the development and implementation of his unethical machine.
Meanwhile, Mike confronts Sulley about the lack of trust between them.
“Ever since that kid came in, you’ve ignored everything I’ve said, and now look where we are! We were about to break the record, Sulley. We would have had it made!” Mike says, “Sulley, what about everything we ever worked for? Does that matter? What about me? I’m… I’m your best friend. Don’t I matter?”
It is at this pivotal point when Sulley and Mike both realize the importance of personal connection over their accomplishments at work. Sulley is determined to remedy his mistakes with Boo, and travels back to the monster world to save her from Waternoose. Mike follows soon after.
In their final confrontation, Waternoose’s utter depravity is revealed. “I’ll kidnap 1,000 children before I let this company die,” he shouts at Sullivan, “and I’ll silence anyone who gets in my way!” Waternoose’s obsession with reputation and financial gain is the root of all conflict in the film. He spread lies about the toxicity of children, sowing fear into his employee’s lives and leading to the continuance of inept organizations like the CDA. He manipulated his workers and created distrust and jealousy among them through the use of the ‘scare record’, leading to the formation of Randall; and he knowingly promoted an unsafe and unethical method of harvesting energy from humans. All of these are measures which are widely used in corporations today in order to keep productivity levels high, and the status quo in place.
In a surprising twist, it is revealed that the desk worker Roz is in fact the chief of the CDA, doing an undercover investigation of Monsters Incorporated. In one way, the reveal that Roz was in fact the chief of police flips the portrayal that the movie had previously established of women as an irritating presence who hinder the progression of the male protagonists, instead placing them as central to the story. On the other hand, it also subtextually posits that, in order for your actions to be valued, you must be at a higher status than that of a clerical worker. However, this plot point also pushes a narrative which is entirely unrealistic to capitalist society. In reality, services like the CIA do and have done unethical operations in order to further US company production and commercial success overseas and domestically, such as the violent acts committed in support of the United Fruit Company. Corporations are not often held liable by the government, as they usually have some financial hold over representatives. It would be extremely unlikely for an officer of a government agency like Roz to be able to freely investigate and prosecute a company like Monster’s Incorporated, which is so essential to the operation of the state of Monstropolis.
After the arrest of Waternoose, Sullivan is told by Roz that after he sends Boo home, he can never see her again. Roz’s reasoning behind this is simply, “That’s the way it has to be,” likely because the existence of a monster world would be too much for the human world to comprehend, but the subtext of this decision is that even a sustainable workplace without a corrupt figurehead is incompatible with familial relationships. Eventually, Sulley is reunited with Boo, but that is only accomplished through Mike going behind the back of the company and the CDA.
Monsters Inc. portrays Sulley and Mike’s discovery of the energy of human laughter as easily incorporated into monster society after the defeat of Waternoose. One CEO or corrupt politician is not in the way of substantial change in the real world, however; there is a network of corruption, financial motives, and misinformation that prevents renewable energy from being more widely implemented. The movie also posits that change could be made through the capitalist system if only CEO’s were held accountable and the right people and ideas were promoted. In actuality, this narrative is highly unrealistic. In fact, because capitalism functions to sustain the rich, and pursue a false ideology by covering up the means of financial gain, capitalism and the services underneath it — the CIA, the police, and other agencies — actively work against accountability.
Monsters Inc. seems overtly critical of the modern energy-producing industry — even the name of the allegorical company itself is an ironic jab at fossil fuels. Overall, Monster’s Inc. has a denunciatory position against corporate corruption, but takes on a highly idealistic view of the capabilities of capitalism to be self-regulating.
In the end, though, it emphasizes family above all else.